Religion Doesn't Rule the Grand Canyon, Seems as if Environmental Group Lied
cn | 21 January, 2007 22:32
A while back I posted about a the accusation that Grand Canyon National Park did not allow its employees to talk about the age of the Grand Canyon because of pressure by certain regligious and/or government groups, an accusation which was originally leveled by an organization called PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility). As it turns out, the data was flawed. Boingboing reports:
It seems that PEER's shocking opening statement that park employees are being silenced to serve some big shots' religious agenda is, well, dubious to say the least. Skeptic magazine publisher Michael Shermer investigated after readers suggested that eSkeptic, which posted highlights from the PEER release, might not have been skeptical enough.
Boingboing references and links to Shermer's site, where Shermer essentially claims that PEER tried to stonewall him, but eventually released a revised statement about the issue, removing the accusation that park employees were forbidden from discussing ceratain scientific beleifs about the Canyon.
It would seem - if we can trust this data - that PEER, an environmental group whose stated purpose "is solely directed by the needs of its members" sees it necissary to lie in order to achieve some result...but what result would they be going for with this misinformation? It wouldn't be to change the policies of the park, because the policies of the park apparently already allow the practice they are bringing up...I would guess it's a subtle jab at the religious right and the administration, who were the parties accused by PEER of forcing this rule, which doesn't even exist....
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